Rapper Noreaga Testifies At Murder Trial; Explains Murder Unit

Rapper Noreaga testified Wednesday (Jan. 9) to aid a friend, who is currently on trial for a triple murder in Manhattan.

Noreaga (real name is Victor Santiago) took the stand in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and stated that he wasn't aware of any illegal activities that friend Darryl Henderson was involved in.

Henderson, along with two members of a street crew called Murder Unit, stand accused of a Jan. 21, 2002 murder of three people near Yankee Stadium's Bronx location.

Assistant US Attorney David M. Rody said that some of the victims were stabbed repeatedly and all of the three people had their throats slit.

Noreaga said that in Hip-Hop everybody isn't a criminal and that most of the imagery is a mere facade.

"The prosecution and the DA depicted him as a killer, and a person who did all this and that's not who I know," Nore revealed. "I know him as being a real dude from the streets and a person that I run with. When I was on tour, he went and got me Kentucky Fried Chicken and Heineken's and he made sure there was no bulls**t around me. He was an older individual, he gave me a piece of mind, so that's what I went up and told the jury and everybody else."

Prosecutors in the district attorney's office said that Henderson and the Murder Unit attempted to rob 30 kilos of cocaine from their victims. Nore defended Henderson and stated that the man was often joined him on tour as an assistant.

Nore also explained that Murder Unit was a rap group, not a drug dealing band thugs.

"Murder Unit was a rap group, first and foremost," Nore continued. "I wanted to invest money, I wanted to invest time, and I wanted to invest in the business aspect of me and I wanted to put Murder Unit on as a rap group....this is the farthest thing from a gang, we was straight up a rap group."

Henderson's defense attorney, David E. Patton, admitted that his client had sold drugs in the past, but denied that he's ever killed anybody or been involved in gangs.